Vacuum pump



March 1, 1949 c. FREYN I 2,463,458

VACUUM PUMP Filed May 6, 1947 INVENTOR. C'AHL FREYN,

A TTOHNEI/ Patented Mar. 1, 1949 VACUUM PUMP Carl Freyn, Edinburg, Ind.,assignor to Jeanette Lloyd, Indianapolis, Ind.

Application May 6, 1947, Serial No. 746,203

11 Claims.

The present invention relates to a vacuum pump, and more particularly toan extremely simple and inexpensive device which nevertheless isoperable to establish a high degree of vacuum. The specific devicedisclosed and claimed herein is an improvement upon that disclosed andclaimed in my prior Patent N0. 1,960,902 issued May 29, 1934 for Suctiondevice. The specific structural improvements disclosed and claimedherein for the first time render the device enormously more flexible inuse, and are adapted for performing functions of which the device of myprior patent was entirely incapable, all as will appear hereinafter.

The primary object of the present invention, then, is to provide animproved pump capable of application to all sorts of devices for drawinga high degree of vacuum within such devices. A further object of theinvention is to provide, for use in association with the said pump, anadapter designed and constructed to withdraw fiuids from one containerand to transfer such fiuids to another container. Further objects of theinvention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, my invention maybe embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings,attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings areillustrative only, and that change may be made in the specificconstruction illustrated and described, so long as the scope of theappended claims is not violated.

Fig. 1 is a fragmental elevational view of my improved vacuum pump,associated with a bottle to be evacuated;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the pump; and

Fig. 3 is an elevational View of the pump, associated with an adapterconstructed in accordance with my invention and illustrated in verticalsection, the adapter being associated with a container to be evacuated.

In the drawings, the reference numeral HJ indicates generally a pumpconstructed in accordance with the present invention. As is most clearlyillustrated in Fig. 2, one structural feature of the pump is a plug llformed of relatively soft, resilient material such as rubber or any ofthe known rubber substitutes. Said plug preferably assumes the form ofan inverted truncated right cone, and at its base, said plug is formedwith an extended perimetral flange l2 defining a plane surface l3.Adjacent its base, the plug is preferably provided with a peripheralgroove H.

Penetrating the plug and opening through its apex and its base is apassage indicated generally by the reference numeral 15. Said passagecomprises an outer section l6 and an inner section H, the outer sectionopening through the apex of the plug and into an enlarged cavity 18intermediate the passage sections, and the inner section opening throughthe plane surface l3 and into said cavity. Within the cavity is movablymounted a ball valve I9 which, under rest conditions and when the pumpis held in the illustrated position, will find a seat upon the mouth ofthe section It opening into the cavity It to close communication betweenthe section l6 and said cavity. A short metal tube 20, preferably havinga roughened exterior surface, is pressed into the passage section ll, sothat one end of said tube lies substantially flush with the surface l3while the opposite end of said tube projects slightly into the cavityH3. The tube 2!] is so sized that it will be frictionally held againstdisplacement by the engagement of the rubber walls of the passagesection H with the exterior of said tube. That end of the tube ll whichprojects into the cavity i8 is notched or slotted as at 2! so that, evenif the ball l9 should seat solidly upon the mouth of said tube, fluidmay nevertheless flow freely past said ball and through the tube 20.

A collapsible dome-shaped body, indicated generally by the referencenumeral 22, is formed to provide a chamber 23, and said body maypreferably be provided with an integral shank 24 internally threaded asat 25 for the reception of the threaded end 26 of a plunger 21. Thechamber 23 is closed except at its open mouth which is bounded by aflexible lip 28, said lip being engageable with the surface I3 toenclose the mouth of the passage section ll within said chamber. Thebody 22 may preferably be formed of rubber or any rubber substitute, andis so constructed that, while it may be distorted by downward pressureexerted through the plunger 21, it will tend to return to itsillustrated shape, upon release of such pressure, through the inherentresiliency of the body material. The lip 28 is distortable so that, uponcollapse of the body 22, fluid contained within said body, and preventedfrom escape through any other channel, will escape between the lip 28and the surface l3, by distortion of said lip. The shape of said lip,however, is such that a reduction of pressure within the chamber 23 willnot permit air to force its way into said chamber between the lip andthe surface l3.

A shroud 29, which may preferably be formed of rubber or any suitablerubber substitute, encloses the body 22 and is formed with a reducedneck 30 through which the plunger 21 loosely extends. At its base, theshroud is formed with an inturned annular lip 3| defining an inwardlyopening annular channel 32 adapted to receive and retain the peripheryof the flange 12.

If it is desired to evacuate a bottle 33 having a mouth 34, or any otherenclosed space havin a similar mouth, the plug I I may be entered insaid mouth to establish a sealing relation therewith. Because of theconical shape of said plug, and the resilient character of the materialfrom which it is formed, the plug will, of course, establish a sealingrelation with any substantially circular orifice within a wide range ofdiameters. Such association provides, of course, communication betweenthe interior of the vessel or other closed space, and the interior ofthe chamber 23, through the passage I5.

Now, the plunger 21 is depressed to collapse the body 22, therebymaterially reducing the effective volume of the chamber 23. The airpreviously entrapped within the chamber 23 must escape therefrom; butthe valve ball is, seated upon the mouth of the passage section [6prevents air flow out from the chamber 23 through the passage [5.Therefore, the air forces its way between the lip 28 and the surface l3,distorting the lip in passing.

Upon release of the depressing force upon the plunger 21, the inherentresiliency of the body 22 tends to return said body to the shape thereofillustrated in Fig. 2, thereby again enlarging the effective volume ofthe chamber 23. The pressure within said chamber is thus reduced, tocreate a pressure differential between the opposite ends of the passagel and air from within the vessel 33 or other enclosed space, will rushthrough said passage [5 into the chamber 23, displacing the valve |9 asit flows. A subsequent collapse of the chamber 22 will force a portionof the air so withdrawn from the vessel 33 out past the lip 28; andrepetition of the above cycle will progressively evacuate the vessel 33or other enclosed space with which the pump is associated.

As the degree of vacuum increases, it may be necessary to exert anupward force upon the plunger 21 to restore the pump body 22 to itsillustrated shape. Alternatively, I may incorporate a coiled spring 44in the organization, preferably embedding one turn of such spring in theneck 24 of the body 22. Where the spring 44 is used, the body 22 neednot be made of inherently resilient material, but may be made of canvasor other material suitably impregnate to render it fluid-tight. Ifdesired, the spring 44 may be contoured to correspond with, and embeddedin the walls of the body 22.

It may be frequently desirable to provide an organization whereby,through the use of my pump, liquids or gases may be transferred from onecontainer to another. For that purpose, I provide an adapter such asthat illustrated in Fig. 3.

In that figure, I have shown a can or other container 35 whose mouth isguarded by a threaded neck 36. My adapter comprises a body 31 which maypreferably be formed of rubber or any suitable rubber substitute. Theadapter is generally cylindrical, being formed to provide a chamber orpassage 43, one open end 38 of which may preferably be threaded forthreaded engagement with the container neck 36, and the other open end39 of which is tapered for sealing cooperation with the plug H.Intermediate its ends, the body 31 is formed with a radial port 40adapted to receive a rigid connector tube 4| to which may be connected aflexible conduit 42. It will be clear that, if the remote end of theconduit 42 is dipped into a receptacle containing any fluid, and if mypump is operated in the manner above described, fluid from suchreceptacle will be transferred to the receptacle 35.

Innumerable use for the disclosed assembly will at once be apparent. Forinstance, water will settle to the bottom of an automobile gasolinetank. If the conduit 42 is inserted to the bottom of such a tank,operation of the pump will draw liquid from the bottom of the tank; andall of the water may be thus removed. In such an operation, atransparent receptacle 35 will be used, so that operation can be stoppedwhen it is seen that gasoline, floating on the top of the water firstWithdrawn from the tank, is bein introduced into the receptacle 35.Sludge may be removed from crank cases. Coolant may be temporarilyremoved from automobile radiators in order to introduce antifreezesolution thereinto, without loss of the original coolant which maycontain some antifreeze solution. Liquid fuel may be readily pumped intoburner reservoirs. Small receptacles may be readily filled from largereservoirs which large reservoirs are not readily manipulable. Plumbingfixtures may be readily drained, even though they include traps. Foreignmatter may be removed from traps. Other uses too numerous to mentionwill be readily apparent or will occur to the user as he avails himselfof the advantages of my pump and adapter.

It will be appreciated that the disclosed pump and adapter may bemanufactured of various materials and at extremely low cost, and thatthere is substantially nothing about the organization to get out oforder. Even if any part of the organization should break down after continuous use, such part may be readily replaced without the use ofspecial tools or equipment, and at extremely low cost. With no bearingsand substantially no moving parts, I have provided a device whereby ahigh degree of vacuum may be established in a closed chamber, thereby'accomplishing functions not heretofore possible except through the useof relatively expensive and complicated machinery.

I claim as my invention:

1. A vacuum pump comprising a substantially conical plug of yieldingmaterial shaped to present a continuous surface at its base, said plugbeing formed with a passage opening through its apex and through itsbase, a collapsible body having an open mouth but being otherwise closedto define a fluid chamber, the rim of said body surroundingsaid mouthbeing engageable with said continuous surface to enclose the opening ofsaid passage through said base, said rim being flexible to permit theescape of fluid therepas't from said chamber, and valve means in saidpassage operable to prevent fluid flow out of said chamber through saidpassage.

2. The pump of claim 1 including a spring associated with said body andresiliently resisting collapse of said body.

3. The pump of claim 1 in which said passage is formed, intermediate itsends, with an enlarged cavity, and in which said valve means comprises avalve body movably received in said cavity and engageable with theopening into said cavity of that portion of said passage remote fromsaid base to prevent fluid flow out of said chamber through saidpassage.

4. The pump of claim 3 including means cooperable with said valve bodyto hold said valve body positively out of engagement with the openinginto said cavity of that portion of said passage adjacent said base.

5. The pump of claim 4 in which said lastnamed means comprises a rigidtube projected through said adjacent portion of said passage and intosaid cavity, that end of said tube disposed in said cavity being portedto permit fluid flow therethrough past said valve body when said valvebody engages said tube end.

6. A vacuum pump comprising a base shaped to provide a substantiallycontinuous surface, said base being imperforate except for a passageopening through said surface, a substantially dome-shaped collapsiblebody having an open mouth defined by an annular lip, said body defininga chamber closed except at said mouth, said lip being engageable withsaid surface to enclose said passage opening in said chamber and to sealsaid chamber against fluid ingress past said lip, said lip beingdistortable to permit fluid egress from said chamber therepast, andvalve means in said passage operable to permit fluid ingress to saidchamber therepast but to prevent fluid egress from said chambertherepast.

'i, The combination with the pump of claim 6 of a shroud elementcomprising a substantially dome-shaped body adapted to enclose andcontain said first-named body, said shroud body being provided with anopen mouth surrounded by an annular lip, said lip being formed toprovide an inwardly-opening annular seat, the perimeter of said basebeing receivable in said seat to hold said pump and said shroud elementin assembled relation.

3. The combination with the pump of claim 1 of an adapter comprising abody shaped to provide an open-ended passage, one open end of saidpassage being adapted for sealing association with the mouth of acontainer, the other open end of said passage sealingly receiving saidplug, and conduit means opening into said passage intermediate said openends.

9. The combination with the pump of claim 1 of an adapter comprising abody shaped to provide a chamber having three ports opening thereinto,one of said ports being adapted for sealing association with the mouthof an otherwise closed container to establish communication between theinterior of said container and said adapter chamber, another of saidports being tapered for sealing reception of said plug, and conduitmeans associated with the other of said ports.

10. The combination with the pump of claim 1 of an adapter comprising abody shaped to provide a chamber having three ports opening thereinto,one of said ports being internally threaded for association with themouth of an otherwise closed container to establish communicationbetween the interior of said container and said adapter chamber, anotherof said ports being tapered for sealing reception of said plug, and aflexible conduit communicating with said adapter chamber through theother end of said ports.

11. The combination with the pump of claim 1 of an adapter comprising abody formed of rubber or the like and shaped to provide a chamber havingthree ports openingthereinto, one of said ports being adapted forsealing association with the mouth of an otherwise closed container toestablish communication between the interior of said container and saidadapter chamber, another of said ports being tapered for sealingreception of said plug, and conduit means associated with the other ofsaid ports.

CARL FREYN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 109,678 Shearer Nov. 29, 18701,960,902 Freyn May, 29, 1934 2,267,280 Kuhnel Dec. 23, 1941 2,354,958Loweke Aug. 1, 1944

